


Safe Place

by Windztone



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aftermath, Coming Out, Everyone lives, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, No Spoilers, Platonic Cuddling, Sharing a Bed, Steve Harrington & Robin Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-06-29 15:06:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19832740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windztone/pseuds/Windztone
Summary: After the final battle, Joyce offers a place for Robin and Steve to stay. And Robin realizes that after many years of battling with her sexuality and being alone, that she has finally found her safe place.





	1. Aftermath

What. A. Night.

It was all over, everything. It was weird to say it or even think about it but Steve knew it was over. This was a mistake he once made during the Christmas of the 83 but now he was definitely sure (at least that's what he wanted to think)

He looked around, still in shock to see what on earth he was supposed to do now, he had never been taught what to do after a fight with a creature from the upside down and evil Russians. He saw that Hopper was holding El in his arms, while she clutched his shirt like a little kid. Joyce was ranting about somethings while checking if Will had any injuries. And much to his surprise, Billy was hugging a crying Max who was shouting at him for scaring her so bad. 

And then there was Robin. Robin was standing next to him doing the exact same thing, her eyes roaming around the scene not fully relaxed, and definitely not feeling safe. She had began shaking her hands, this was something Steve had noticed she used to do when she was; scared, anxious or trying to stop a panic attack from arising. He first noticed when a bunch of dicks from their school came to Scoops Ahoy to basically mess around with her. Her confident persona flew straight out the window as the group started to tease her publicly. She started to stutter and her movements where far from slick but she did her best to still attend the costumers (who were fucking assholes). Thats when he noticed that, below the counter, she had started to shake her hands non-stop. It was the same movements kids do when their hands are wet and they have no where to dry them, but in this case she was doing it to calm herself down.

Steve, knowing a few things about anxiety (I mean he's been babysitting kids who've been through some tough shit, he knows a thing or two about anxiety) took Robins hand into his, giving it a light squeeze. The freckled girl just looked at him and took a little step closer so that their arms would also be touching. 

Out of all the weird thing that had happened the last couple of days, this was not going t be one of them. Sure, during his high school days and asshole phase he had been kinda racist and kinda homophobic (something he is very ashamed of) but the last few years had helped him set his mind into perspective and honestly gays, lesbians, bisexuals and black people where the least of his problems. So when Robin came out to him, he wanted her to feel accepted and loved and cared for as she was still the amazing person she was a minute ago.

Both of them sat down on the floor without saying a word.

A few minutes later kids stared to call their parents, some of them had already left and the rests were about to. Everyone was waking around, still tense but in a much better mood, saying goodbye and hugging each other. Joyce, who was about to leave, spotted the two kids who where still dressed in their Scoops Ahoy uniform. She slowly approached them and kneeled in front of them, slightly smiling when she saw them holding hands.

"Hey guys... It's pretty late and it's been one hell of a night, do you have a ride home?" She spoke slowly

Robin just shook her head and Steve decided to speak "Uh... My parents aren't home... Not until two weeks"

"I-I don't really want to be alone..." Robin then added 

Joyce offered them a smile "Its okay, lucky I have a spare room with a very big bed"

"Oh- we wouldn't like to disturb" Said Steve

Joyce chuckled a bit "Don't worry Steve, the more people the easier the night will be"

Steve just looked at Robin, who nodded. 

Joyce then stood up and told them to get in the car while she talked to Hopper for a bit.

Both of them stood up and headed to the car. Will and Jonathan were already seated and much to their surprise, they didn't even question why they had just randomly hopped inside their car. Robin pulled up her knees towards her chest and turned her head to look at Steve, she smiled a bit. 

Steve smiled back and laid his head on her shoulders, finally realizing how exhausted he was. He allowed himself to relax and in less than 5 minutes he had fallen asleep.

He was woken up by Robin who was shaking his shoulder "You better not have drooled on me dingus"

Steve stood up straight and slightly pushed her "Shut up sailor"

Joyce showed them their room and went through a various number of rules so that they would feel safe and talk to her if anything happened, cause one thing we can be sure that caused many of the problems for the last two/three years was the lack of fucking communication.

"The most normal thing is for you guys to have nightmares, no matter how tough you are they will come and you have to remember that Im down the hall okay?" She said to the two kids that were already inside their bed

Both of them nodded

"Don't feel embarrassed or ashamed okay? You kids have been through a lot" She said as she began to close the door "Lights on or off?"

"On!" Both of them said in perfect unison

Joyce chuckled a bit "Goodnight" she said as she closed the door

As soon as the door was close both of them stayed in silence. Robin moved a bit so that she copied Steves position and they would both be laying on their back, staring blankly at the celling. 

"Well, I gotta cross this whole night from my bucket list" Said Robin and Steve couldn't hold back a laugh

"Yeah, never in my life would've I imagined being tortured by evil Russians" 

"Well, there is always a one time for everything" She said as she played with her hands

Steve thought about what he was going to say next "Talking about first times...Was that- was that your first time coming out?"

Robins breathing hitched and she closed her eyes, making eye contact during these talks was hard for her "Y-yes"

"Im honored" Said Steve with a smile and the freckled girl relaxed a bit

"And Im glad you reacted so well"

"Look, I may have been a douchebag during my early years, but I swear I totally support you. And I will end anyone who doesn't" 

Robin laughed sourly "Well you might want to reconsider that"

"No. No one should be ashamed of who they are, not if its being gay, lesbian" Robin tensed again, boy she had a serious case of internalized homophobia going on "bisexual, trans-transexual, black, a woman... I don't know man.... Lesbian rights!" He kinda shouted and Robin smacked his shoulder as she laughed 

"Shut up dingus! They're going to hear you!" She said while smiling, Steve was from out of this world

"Okay okay... But seriously" Now he whispered "Lesbian rights!" 

"Turns out you're a bigger supporter of me being gay than I am" She joked but Steve didn't laugh about that

"Well I shouldn't because you have to be proud of who you are. You are a genius, who cracked a code of high Russian security, you helped save America, if not the world, and you are brave and amazing and funny... You being gay shouldn't change any of those things, it should only add it to the cool list"

She is crying. Robin is fucking crying Thought Steve as he looked at the girl who was making the bed shake with her sobs.

"Hey hey hey... Im sorry I over stepped I shoul-"

"-no!" She interrupted "It's just... I've always been so alone, I had no one to talk to and for the longest time I've tried to change this part of me. I always thought I was sick and deviant and-and you... You just come here and tell me all the things I thought I would never hear... It's just- thank you Steve"

Steve was now crying, crying because this amazing girl who he had the pleasure to meet thought so poorly of herself. Steve just opened his arms and hugged her, letting her cry in his shirt.

"Shhh you're okay, you're okay" He said while rubbing her back. "You have me, you are now stuck with me, I swear you will never feel alone again"

After minutes of comforting the girl in her arms, her sobs had transformed to hiccups and her breathing had gone back to normal. Steve was pretty proud of himself, he was very good at comforting people.

Unconsciously his hand moved from her back to her head and started gently massaging her scalp, to what she melted more against him (if it was possible) and let out a sight.

"Wow, you really have a soft spot" He chuckled, making her head bounce slightly 

"Shut it dingus..." She warned but he obviously continued 

"I mean, look, your like a little puppy" He said while his fingers ran through her hair

She hit his chest with her arm and Steve stopped "Okay, no more cuddling" 

Robins eyes snapped open and looked up at Steve, who had a smirk drawn all over his face "Okay, tease me all you want, but don't stop, pretty please"

Steve just laughed and positioned himself like he was before and continued to play with her hair. He had to admit that it felt nice, someone cared for him in a why nobody had ever done. Sure, the kids loved him, but they were still kids. Robin cared for him, enjoyed his company and they had a blast most of the time.

This was the begging of a fucking great friendship.


	2. Big decisions

Joyce was obviously right. The kids didn't exactly get a good night sleep but both of them were glad they had each other to rely on as they stayed up all night talking about the most random things ever. With that being done they had also fallen asleep and then woken up again, to then repeat the whole process all over again till it was 9:07 am and they heard people outside their room.

The next few days were chaotic.

Surprisingly (not really, though) Joyce had managed to keep it together and move past her traumas in order to deal with the kids ones, which were difficult to handle. Thank god Jonathan and Will had been to therapy before and had an idea of how to calm themselves down and just handle the whole situation, in a few days they were almost back to normal. The ones who weren't even close to being back to normal where Robin and Steve, those two were a hot mess.

Everything seemed to trigger Robins panic attacks; loud noises, flashes of light, certain words, and her anxiety had gotten so bad she had to take her pills again. It had been exactly 3 years since she had needed them and saw it a bit like a defeat but Joyce had reassured her that she was very strong and no one could have managed to keep together.

Steve was very shaky and very jumpy. Thankfully every time he thought he was going to breakdown or have a panic attack Robin or Joyce kept him afloat and saved him every time, but must of the time he tried to keep a straight face for the freckled girl. Nevertheless he had convinced the crew to sleep in the living room with the tv as a background noise and where all of them were together and Steve knew they were safe.

But things had managed to cool down, at least for now. 

Joyce was making dinner with Steve, who turned out being quite a good cook. He had then explained that it was either learn how to cook or starve because most of the time his parents weren't home. Joyce was kind of chaotic when it came to the kitchen, it's like she hated it and it hated her.

Then, the youngest of the Byers was sitting on the couch next to Robin, who was talking about movies when she found out that he hadn't seen Indiana Jones's Raiders of the Lost Ark.

"But its sooooo good" She said while putting her hands up in disbelief

Joyce spoke from the kitchen "It came out four years ago, so he was awfully young and it could have traumatized him"

"Yeah... Thank god you saved me from that traumatic experience, I would have never gotten over it" Said Will sarcastically, he had learned a lot from Robin.

"Don't stress it, kid, I bet they still have it at the store so I can ask for it and we'll watch it together" Said Robin while smiling 

Will smiled back "Yes! And we can make popcorn!"

Robin ruffled his hair "Sure, we'll also make popcorn"

Later that night Robin was laying in bed, looking (again) at the celling and thinking, thinking at how little time they really have, how things that can seem important can change in just a matter of seconds... I mean these few days had put her mind into perspective.

"Hey Steve?" She spoke, not taking her eyes off the ceiling

"Yes?" He said, washing his face in the bathroom

"I-I think I wanna..." She stopped in mid sentence and Steve knew immediately what it was about

He then hopped into bed and looked at the freckled girl, knowing she would speak when she was ready.

"You know the Byers have been so nice to us a-and especially Joyce. I mean god she didn't even know me and she took me in under her wing without questioning" She said and Steve chuckled

"Yeah... She's a great person and a better mom"

Robin cleared her throat "So that's why I've been thinking I should- I should come out to her, I kinda own it to her"

"Hold up, I'm not going to tell you who you're going to come out to but you need to understand this; you don't own anything to nobody, okay? Don't feel pressure to come out cause you think you owe it to them cause it's a privet part of you and you should freely decide who you choose to share it with"

"Damn Steve, I should have come for advice from you a long time ago" Said Ronin as she smiled 

"Well, that's what best friends are for" 

"Best friends? You really stepped up a level there, dingus" She said and Steve started to feel his cheeks going hot

"Uh- no I mean it just slipped- no we we are n-" He stammered but thankfully Robin cut him off

"Im kidding, shitbird, It would be an honor to be your best friend" She said and Steve relaxed "I mean, where else kind I find someone with shared experiences to be friends with?"

Steve chuckled "Yeah, I guess the whole upside down has its ups and downs"

"Jesus that was the worst attempt of a joke you have ever made! It was like a dad joke!" Said Robin while trying to look irritated, but she couldn't help back a smile

"You loved it and I know it" Steve insisted

"Yeah uh that's a no" She said while turning to face him "Well, if you don't have any more bad jokes to make, good night dingus" She closed her eyes

"Night Rob" Said Steve and saw how she let out a tiny grin when she heard the new nickname.

The next day Robin and Steve had woken up extremely early so that they could go over together how the talk was going to go a few times before actually talking to Joyce. This was because the freckled girl had spent the whole night tossing and turning around, thinking what she was actually going to tell her.

Steve sat on the sofa and looked at Robin, who was shaking her hands in order to keep herself calm.

"Remember, you don't have to do this, at least not now" He said and she looked up

"No. No, it's fine I'm just a little shaky" She replied as she sat down next to him

"This is what you call a little? You're like a mini earthquake" He joked

Robin finally cracked a smile "Surprised you know what an earthquake is"

Steve nudged her shoulder "Fuck off"

"Language!" Said Joyce (Captain ;) )as she stepped into the kitchen with a smile on her face

Both of the kids looked up and they realized that it was time. Robin sent his friend a look that made him open his mouth and say:

"Hey, Joyce! Could you come here for just a second?" 

"Sure, what is it?" She said while sitting down next to them

"Uh I- Robin wanted to talk to you" He said and offered his friend a smile, meaning good luck

Her hands had started to sweat a long time ago, she could feel how her heart was beating twice as fast as it should and her mouth felt dry. She obviously recognized all these symptoms but she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued. She had to get this done.

"I... Joyce, thank you for everything you've done for me. Honestly, the past few days have been easier because you are by my side..." She inhaled shakily 

"Honey, whatever it is, you can talk to me, you can trust me" She said looking at her with her soft and caring eyes

Robin just nodded and continued "I-I wanted to tell you that I understand If you don't want- don't want me in your house anymore when im done..."

"Nonsense, sweetheart" 

"Im" Tears had started to pool in her eyes, her throat had closed and she felt like she had to physically drag the words out of her mouth "Im a lesbian" She choked out as she quickly covered her mouth when a sob came out, but it was no use because now she was full on bawling.

And that's when she lost control. The counting in her head wouldn't work. The shaking her hands wouldn't work. The listing the objects around her wouldn't work. She could not stop the panic attack.

When she was young and free from panic attack she had once read that is felt like a heart attack. 

The fuck it did.

She couldn't breathe, this time she thought she would pass out immediately because she was incapable of getting oxygen into her system.

"Hey hey hey hey hey" Said Steve as he crouched down on the floor in front of her "Can you hear me Robin?" He slowly took her hands into his, so they would stop shaking, not too much physical contact, not too little, but just enough for her "Listen to me"

She was fucking trying. But the incredible pain in her chest, the pounding of her heart in her ear, the spinning of the room and her failed attempt of breathing were not helping.

"I want you to inhale as best as you can okay?" She said nothing but Steve knew she was listening "Inhale...now hold it" He stopped two seconds "now exhale, thats it"

Robin was shaking her head softy, wanting him to understand what she was saying "Yes you can, you just did it and now you are gonna do it again. Inhale.... Hold it.... Exhale..." 

She tried to copy it as best as possible but she felt no improvement. As if he had read her mind he said "You're getting better, just continues. Inhale... Hold it... Exhale"

"Inhale... Hold it... Exhale" he repeated "that's it, keep going"

"Inhale... Hold it... Exhale" This time she managed to get more air in "That's it Robs"

She repeated it numerous amounts of times, until she could finally breathe. Steve also noticed because he moved back up to the sofa and hugged her, his hand moving to her scalp and gently massaging it. Joyce had watched it completely silent, this was definitely the worse panic attack she had had since she had met her. It was also because she was think about what the girl had just told her, but I mean, there wasn't a lot to think about. She still loved and respected Robin and her being gay wouldn't change anything.

"Sweetheart... It's okay to be gay" Joyce finally spoke and Robin looked up from Steves embrace "I have nothing against you and it's not going to change anything on how I feel about you. You're a great kid, you've been nothing but an awesome friend to my boys and a lot of support to all of us. Robin, you are loved in here" She said and she moved away some hair strands that where in her face

Robin only smiled, not really trusting her voice and also her throat was completely closed and still in pain so she doesn't think she can get any words out. But with that smile, she says everything she wants to say.

**Author's Note:**

> Im just kind of in love with Robin and I had to write a fanfic about their friendship cause its so cute!
> 
> Btw what would you like me to add to the story?
> 
> Next chapter will be Robin coming out to Joyce and the Kids!


End file.
